When it came to surveillance, Li Ming felt like every organization was obsessed with monitoring him—there were already five groups spying on him.
Kamar-Taj was the first to keep tabs on Li Ming, but with the Ancient One as their leader, even if Li Ming knew they were watching his every move, there was nothing he could do about it.
Back when he was weak, forget about resisting—even if Li Ming became a god in the future, what then? If he dared to breathe too loudly in front of the Ancient One, he'd still end up on his knees calling her "Mom."
Next was Stark. Whether out of curiosity or sheer paranoia, he was the first to install tracking devices on Li Ming's RV.
But so what if Stark wore his Armor Suit? Li Ming had plenty of ways to deal with him.
And if Stark took off the Armor Suit? Hah, Li Ming couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge his surveillance.
Fury was another story. The guy had wanted to monitor Li Ming for a long time, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s equipment and agents were so useless that they still hadn't found an effective way to do it. Meanwhile, Li Ming had already planted plenty of his own spies within S.H.I.E.L.D.
If only Li Ming had enough wraiths at his disposal—then S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra wouldn't even need to fight. They'd all just be Li Ming's subordinates, one big happy family.
The military was no different. Sure, they seemed to have Li Ming's territory surrounded, but if they dared to step foot inside, they'd defect en masse the next second and become Li Ming's private army.
Calling the military Li Ming's babysitter would be more accurate. Take, for example, when Li Ming asked Fury for timber and cannons.
Timber was easy enough—shipyards or smuggling could handle that. But cannons? Those were way more powerful than handguns, and no weapon shop sold them. Unless Fury was rummaging through the military's moldy warehouses, where else could he have found a pile of cannons so quickly?
If anyone claimed the military wasn't involved, Li Ming wouldn't believe it even if beaten to death.
Out of all the forces surveilling him, the only one whose strength Li Ming couldn't quite gauge was Mephisto, the one behind the Abomination.
If Mephisto's true form appeared on Earth, Li Ming would open a Portal and flee into space the next second. No way was he sticking around to become Mephisto's snack.
But Mephisto's avatars or projections were a different story.
If it was just a casual, leisure-class avatar of Mephisto manifesting on Earth, Li Ming could crush him in minutes.
But if a combat-class account logged in? That was harder to predict. Even with Li Ming's current strength at the "Refining Spirit to Return to Void" stage, bolstered by "Pseudo-Seraphim" feathers and holy water, Mephisto probably had plenty of powerful artifacts up his sleeve too.
Li Ming figured they'd be evenly matched—neither able to truly defeat the other.
So despite all the surveillance, aside from Kamar-Taj (which was clearly untouchable) and the Abomination (a minor nuisance), the rest were just ants Li Ming could crush at will. Would anyone even care if ants were watching them?8/29/25, 21:58
What Can They Do to You Anyway?
Li Ming chose to simply ignore them. After all, they couldn't do anything to him, and they might even help fend off unnecessary annoyances.
On the second day after Coulson moved in, when the sun was already high in the sky—
Li Ming, wearing beach shorts and bare-chested, proudly displaying his flat stomach, was busy sawing away at wood to build a sailboat when a black SUV slowly pulled up beside the small cabin.
Coulson stepped out of the car with a young man and woman in tow, signaling for the two to carry their luggage into the cabin while he curiously eyed Li Ming. His gaze occasionally flickered to the oversized beer mug beside Li Ming and his flat stomach.
That doesn't make sense. Just a few days ago, I saw this guy with a little potbelly. How did it disappear in just a few days? Did he take some magical weight-loss potion? The effects are way too fast...
While Coulson was puzzling over this, the two youngsters returned to his side after stowing their luggage.
Li Ming paused his work, took a big swig from his mug, and asked Coulson as he approached, "Are these two your team members?"
Coulson nodded slightly, gesturing to the still somewhat shy and boyish-looking young man. "This is Leo Fitz, one of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy's top students." He paused, then added with a warm smile, "Fitz is a mechanical engineer and electronics expert. Maybe he can help optimize the layout of your sailboat and make it faster."
Hearing Coulson's introduction, Li Ming understood that besides introducing Fitz to him, Coulson also wanted him to look after the young man.
But inwardly, Li Ming was on the verge of laughing out loud. He was well aware of Fitz—this guy's intelligence was off the charts. Who knows, he might even help Li Ming understand certain spells better.
Li Ming extended his hand for a handshake. "I'm Austin. Nice to meet you, Mr. Fitz."
Fitz smiled shyly. "Hello, just call me Fitz."
As their handshake ended, Coulson pointed to the other young woman, who had been smiling all along, and introduced her. "This is Jemma Simmons, specializing in biochemistry. She can help you improve your cannon's gunpowder so you can blow up entire schools of fish with a single shot."
Cannons for fishing? Simmons blinked in confusion at Coulson before shaking Li Ming's hand. "Hello, Austin."
"Hello, Simmons," Li Ming replied, then gestured to the pile of lumber behind him. "Feel like working up a sweat?"
Catching his hint about helping with the boat, Simmons and Fitz instinctively turned to Coulson, their eyes full of questions.
Coulson gave them a reassuring smile before turning back to Li Ming. "You're not going to make them work for free, are you?"
Do you have to be so blatant about asking for favors? Li Ming rolled his eyes and shouted, "Klee Che, bring three Amulets!"
Instantly, the invisible Klee Che appeared before Li Ming, holding three Amulets in mid-air.
Seeing Fitz's stunned expression as he stared at the floating Amulets, Li Ming tilted his head in thought and said, "Klee Che, show yourself and say hello."
Klee Che obediently revealed himself and, at Li Ming's gesture, held out an Amulet toward Fitz.
Having lived his entire life in the normal world, Fitz was startled when he first laid eyes on the strange-looking Klee Che. He instinctively raised his hands and stumbled back several steps in alarm. Only after remembering that his superior was still present—and that the little creature's owner was also there—did he awkwardly and cautiously accept the Amulet from Klee Che's hand, asking curiously, "What is this?" Feeling his question might have been impolite, Fitz quickly corrected himself, "I mean, what species is he? A robot?"
"'He,'" Coulson emphasized, as if suddenly recalling something, feigning an expression of realization. "This is Klee Che, Austin's servant. Forgot to mention—Austin is a mage, and Klee Che is a mage's exclusive servant, belonging to the elven race."
Still wearing an awkward expression, Fitz shot Coulson a sidelong glance, inwardly grumbling, Sir, if you had concealed the amusement on your face a little better, maybe I'd have believed you forgot to introduce him earlier.
Nearby, Simmons took the Amulet, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the "elven" Klee Che, who was so frightened that he hastily handed the Amulet to Coulson and ducked behind Li Ming for cover.
Seeing that she had even scared Klee Che away, Simmons regretfully stroked the Amulet in her hand before turning to Li Ming with excitement in her voice. "So, you're 'Death'?"
Li Ming shrugged and looked at Coulson in confusion. "I thought not many people knew about my identity? How does this kid already know who I am?"
Kid? Simmons gave Li Ming's face a skeptical once-over before glancing down at her own youthful hands. You might not even be older than me.
Before Coulson could respond, Simmons explained with a hint of nostalgia, "I studied biology and had the privilege of dissecting a Chitauri corpse under my professor's guidance." She paused, then asked curiously, "Austin, how did you manage to kill the Chitauri without leaving any external wounds while instantly shutting down their internal organs? What's the principle behind that spell?"
A scientist asking me about spell mechanics? Feeling the absurdity of the question, Li Ming scratched his head and spread his hands. "You'd have to ask the Dementors. They're the ones who killed the Chitauri soldiers."
Coulson shot Li Ming a subtle eye-roll before explaining to the intensely curious Simmons, "Dementors—without specialized equipment, they're completely invisible. Plus, their language is different from humans'. So far, aside from Austin, no one can understand or even hear what they say."
As he spoke, Coulson checked his watch and began walking toward the car. "Austin, Agents Fitz and Simmons are in your hands now. I still have to pick someone up at the Los Angeles branch."
Li Ming casually waved goodbye to Coulson and said to Klee Che, "Prepare dinner. I feel like having a whole roasted lamb." After a pause, he turned to Fitz and Simmons and asked, "Do you have any special requests for dinner?"
Fitz and Simmons exchanged glances before shaking their heads. "No, whatever you arrange is fine."
Considering there were foreigners joining for dinner, Li Ming thought for a moment and added, "Also prepare some salad."
Klee Che nodded and instantly disappeared from sight. Li Ming handed the saw he was holding to Fitz and said, "Come on, let's work on the art project together."
A few days later, Coulson returned to Li Ming's home with Melinda and Grant Ward.
These two had known Li Ming for some time. After greeting him from a distance, they each carried their luggage into the small wooden cabin.
Li Ming smirked as he watched Ward's retreating figure and nudged Fitz, who was helping him build a sailboat. "Stay away from that guy in the future."
Fitz gave Ward a puzzled look and whispered, "Is there something wrong with him?"
Li Ming nodded solemnly, shaking his head with a look of pity. "He's a poor soul. Out of nowhere, a demon took an interest in him. Even though I'm a mage, I can't help him."
Fitz, who now firmly believed in the existence of magic, gods, and hell, looked utterly confused.
When night fell and the group gathered around the campfire, Fitz took advantage of Ward's trip to the restroom to approach Coulson quietly. "Sir, Austin said Agent Ward is someone a demon has taken an interest in—"
Before Fitz could finish, Coulson shot an exasperated glance at Li Ming. "You might as well ask Agent Ward yourself why Mephisto is after him."
Fitz was baffled—could one really ask the demon lord directly about such things?
This only deepened his curiosity about why Ward had caught a demon's attention.
Shortly after, Ward returned to the campfire. After some hesitation, Fitz mustered the courage to sit beside him and whispered, "Agent Ward, I wanted to ask—why is a demon after you?"